ens of a fungus that would have delighted Vane, and
been carried off as prizes. They were tall-stemmed, symmetrically
formed fungi, with rather ragged brown and white tops, which looked as
if in trying to get them open into parasol shape the moorland fairies
had regularly torn up the outer skin of the tops with their little
fingers; those unopened though showed the torn up marks as well, as they
stood there shaped like an egg stuck upon a short thin stick.

"Come on!" shouted Gilmore. "Found anything?"

Macey shook his head, and hurried once more onward to keep the line, to
hear soon afterwards _scape, scape_, uttered shrilly by a snipe which
darted off in zigzag flight.

"Oh, how poor old Vane would have liked to be here on such a morning!"
thought Macey, and a peculiar moisture, which he hastily dashed away,
gathered in his eyes and excused as follows:--

"Catching cold," he said, quickly. "No wonder with one's feet and legs
so wet, why, I'm soaking right up to the waist. Hallo! what bird's
that?"

For a big-headed, thick-beaked bird flew out of a furze bush, showing a
good deal of white in its wings.

"Chaffinch, I s'pose. No; can't be. Too big. Oh, I do wish poor old
Vane was here: he knows everything of that kind. Where can he be?
Where can he be?"

It was hot work that toiling through the bushes, but no one murmured or
showed signs of slackening as he struggled along. There were halts
innumerable, and the doctor could be seen hurrying here and hurrying
there along the straggling line till at last a longer pause than usual
was made at some pool, and heads were turned toward those who seemed to
be making a more careful examination than usual; while, to relieve the
tedium of the halt, Distin suddenly went splashing through the shallow
stream on to the pebbly margin on the other side.

"Shan't you get very wet?" shouted Gilmore.

"Can't get wetter than I am," was shouted back then. "I say it's ten
times better walking here. Look out! Moor-hens!"

"And wild ducks," cried Gilmore, as a pair of pointed-winged mallards
flew up with a wonderfully graceful flight.

But the birds passed away unnoticed, for just then Distin uttered a cry
which brought Macey tearing over the furze and brambles following
Gilmore, who was already at the edge of the stream, and just then the
signal was given by the miller to go on.

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.

VANE IS TAKEN AT A DISADVANTAGE.

Vane felt for the moment q